Gospel Principles - Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46 – THE FINAL JUDGMENT

Judgments of God

What are some different judgments that come before the Final Judgment?  How do all these judgments relate to one another?

Revelation 20: 12—And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:  and another was opened, which is the Book of Life:  and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 111—For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to their own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;

1 Nephi 15: 32—And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.

Abraham 3: 25 – 28—And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;  And they who keep their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.  And the Lord said:  Whom shall I send?  And one answered like unto the Son of Man:  Here am I, send me.  And another answered and said:  Here am I, send me.  And the Lord said:  I will send the first.  And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and at that day, many followed after him.

Doctrine & Covenants 137: 9—For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire in their hearts.

Alma 41: 3—And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

Alma 40: 11 – 15—Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.  And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.  And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.  Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.  Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection.  Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the raising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.

Our Words, Works, and Thoughts Are Used to Judge Us

Imagine being judged for al your thoughts, words, and actions.

Alma 12: 14—And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immorality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works.

Matthew 12: 36 – 37—But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they sha give account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Mosiah 5: 2—And they all cried with one voice, saying:  Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.

Think about what you can do to improve your thoughts, words, and actions.

We Will Be Judged by Records

From what records will we be judged?  Who will judge us?

Doctrine & Covenants 128: 6 – 8—And further, I want you to remember that John the Revelator was contemplating this very subject in relation to the dead, when he declared, as you will find recorded in Revelation 20: 12----And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judge out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  You will discover in this quotation that the books was opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; but the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth.  And the book which was the Book of Life is the record which is kept in heaven; the principle agreeing precisely with the doctrine which is commanded you in the revelation contained in the letter which I wrote to you previous to my leaving my place—that in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven.  Now, the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Or, in other words, taking a different view of translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own propria persona, or by the means of their own agents, according to the ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation of the world, according to the records which they have kept concerning their dead.

2 Nephi 9: 15—And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the hoy judgment of God.

Revelation 20: 12—And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life:  and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Doctrine & Covenants 128: 7—You will discover in this quotation that the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the Book of Life, but the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth.  And the book which was the Book of Life is the record which is kept in heaven; the principle agreeing precisely with the doctrine which is commanded you in the revelation contained in the letter which I wrote to you previous to my leaving my place—that in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church:  Harold B. Lee [2000], 226 – 7

Romans 2: 15—Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Deseret News, Mar. 8, 1865, 179

John 5: 22—For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

Matthew 19: 28—And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye as osha sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Luke 22: 30—That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israe.

1 Nephi 12: 9 – 10—And he said unto me:  Thou remembered the twelve apostles of the Lamb?  Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel.  And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed.  And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood.

Mormon 3: 18 – 19—Yea, behold, I write unto al the ends of the earth; yea, unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works by the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem.  And I write also unto the remnant of this people, who shall also be judged by the twelve whom Jesus chose in this land; and they shall be judged by the other twelve whom Jesus chose in the land of Jerusalem.

Inheriting a Place in a Kingdom of Glory

How will our faithfulness during our life on earth influence our life in the eternities?

Doctrine & Covenants 88: 20 – 32

Doctrine & Covenants 76

Celestial

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 51 – 53—They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given---  That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto his power;  And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon a those who are just and true.

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 62—These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.

Terrestrial

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 73 – 79—And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but after wards received it.  These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.  These are they are who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness.  These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father.  Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.  These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.

Telestial

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 81 – 88, 103 – 106, 109—And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.  These are they who received the not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.  These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.  These are they who are thrust down to hell.  These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.  These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial;  And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.  And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation.  These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.  These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth.  These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.  These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work;  But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial word, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;

Outer Darkness

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 28 – 35, 44 – 48—And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ-----  Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and emcompasseth them round about.  And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us:  Thus saith the Lord concerning al those who know my power, and have bene made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power----  They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;  For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;  Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come----  Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.  Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment----   and the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows;  Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof;  Nevertheless, I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up again;  Wherefore, the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.

Doctrine & Covenants 76: 50 – 53, 62 – 70—And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given----That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;  And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.  These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.  These are they whom he shall bring with him when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.  These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.  These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.  These are they who are come unto Mount of Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.  These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.  These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.  These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.  These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

We Should Prepare Now for Judgment

What must we do to be ready for the Final Judgment?

Matthew 25: 34—Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Additional Scriptures

The Judgment

Romans 2: 6 – 9—Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Revelation 20: 12 – 13—And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life:  and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:  and they were judged every man according to their works.

We Are Judged in a Resurrected State

Alma 11: 41—Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

Mormon 7: 6—And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat.

Mormon 9: 13 – 14—And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.  And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

Books Used in the Judgment

2 Nephi 29: 11—For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

3 Nephi 27: 23 – 26—Write the tings which ye have seen and heard, save it be those which are forbidden.  Write the works shall be, even as hath been written, of that which hath been.  For behold, out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written, shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men.  And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged.

Our Judgment is Determined by our Works, the Desires of Our Hearts, Repentance, Enduring to the End

Alma 41: 2 – 7—I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite to their proper order.  Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself.  And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.  And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil.  Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruptions—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other----  The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he had desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.  And so it is on the other hand.  If he hath repented of this sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.  These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

Repent and Prepare to Stand Before the Judgment Seat

Mormon 3: 22—And I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Of Whom Much is Given, Much is Required

Luke 12: 47 – 48—And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will ,shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.  For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:  and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Doctrine & Covenants 82: 3—For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.

We Each Receive that for Which We Are Worthy

Doctrine & Covenants 88: 16 – 33—And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul.  And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.  Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;  For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;  That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified.  And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.  For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.  And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.  And he who cannot abide a law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory.  Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.  And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of it s creation, and transgresseth not the law-----  Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.  For nowwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.  They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.  Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.  And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.  And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.